Christmas Traditions

Whether you drive around and look at Christmas lights, visit a live Nativity scene, go ice skating, or attend midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, we all have holiday traditions that we look forward to each and every year. On Saturday, we indulged in my favorite family Christmas tradition – baking sugar cookies with homemade butter cream frosting. My Mom and I have been doing this together since I was seven or eight years old, which means we’ve been at it for over 30 years! This year’s cookie baking marathon (we bake and frost a triple batch) was extra special because my brother Jim joined us, along with my nephew, Reid, and my niece, Ayla. It was pretty awesome having three generations elbow-to-elbow, cutting cookies, baking, frosting, and enjoying the finished product together!

Another Christmas tradition we have is that my Dad and stepmom still fill up all of our stockings and give them to us on Christmas Eve – even though all the “kids” are in their thirties and forties! Of course, the grandkids get their stockings, too. My Dad always insists that we pose for a picture of all of us with our stockings. They are usually filled with practical things like breath mints and scented candles – but I think we’d all be disappointed if the tradition stopped!

Because Christmas is the season of giving, my husband and I sponsor a local family in need every year and buy presents for the kids. Since we don’t have kids of our own, it’s fun to get to play Santa! We always sponsor a different family each year and most times we never even meet them. But there’s such a sense of peace and fulfillment that comes with doing something for someone with no thought of what they can do for you in return. And that’s what Christmas is really all about.